1. Field
The present disclosure relates to ground marking systems, and more particularly pertains to a new marker system with a marker and an installation apparatus for marking a ground surface to, for example, indicate the presence of buried utilities, boundaries, events, advertising, etc. in a highly efficient and convenient manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is often desirable to mark the ground surface to indicate, for example, the presence of underground utilities, the location of lot boundaries, and the like. This marking is often accomplished by the insertion of markers into the ground that extend upward from the ground surface and may include a flag at the top end. Numerous markers may be placed at spaced locations along the path of the buried utility line, and this may be true of each buried utility service (such as electric, gas, telephone, water, sewer).
However, the installation of the markers can be laborious, due to the numbers of markers that need to be placed as well as the manner in which the markers are inserted. The markers may be inserted by hand into the ground with no mechanical assistance, but this requires repeatedly bending down to engage and insert the marker into the ground surface. This repeated bending over can be physically taxing on the person performing the marking operation.
A number of devices have been proposed to facilitate the placement of markers. While these devices appear to work, some appear to actually make the insertion action more difficult by increasing the cross sectional profile of the portion of the marker that is being inserted into the ground (and thereby causing more resistance due to the larger profile), and/or requiring that a portion of apparatus be inserted in the ground as well. This approach can make it difficult if not impossible to insert markers in ground that is highly compacted, stony, or is slightly frozen, to name a few of the factors making the insertion more difficult.
Further, many of the known devices attempt to hold the marker by utilizing friction between the device and the marker to permit the device to move the marker. This approach tends to be less effective when, for example, using markers presenting a relatively large cross sectional profile and when the ground is compacted, stony, frozen, etc.
Some of the devices must be loaded with a marker each time that a marker is to be installed, which requires continual reloading of the device. Some devices require a relatively strong and rigid marker in order to push the marker into the ground, and this may require markers with thicker cross sectional sizes in order to provide the necessary rigidity.
It is therefore believed that there exists in the art a need for an improved marker system that avoids or mitigates the drawbacks of the known devices.